a few weeks ago i noticed clicks and pops through the recording input while in protools. at first i thought is was protools but i realized while protools was closed, i was still getting the same clicks and pops through the console app of my Apollo twin. I've had my Apollo twin for almost a year now, this just happened out of the blue. so what i did to try and find the problem was take my apollo twin, my mic and my mic cables to a friends house that had the same exact apollo. first i just hooked my mic up to his whole recording set up, didn't get the clicks and pops. after realizing it wasn't my mic, i unhooked his cables and replaced them with my cables, still no clicks and pops. so then i decided to unhook his apollo and replace it with my apollo, still no clicks and pops. thats when i really got confused. i just pretty much swapped out everything but the cpu and speakers and still no clicks and pops. now its getting really weird. so i decided to go back home and reevaluate the situation. i said to my self the only thing that i didnt take to his house that could have made a difference was my cpu and speakers. so i unhooked my speakers and took them as far away from my set up and i was still getting the clicks and pops. so then i thought maybe it has something to do with the outlets i had my studio plugged into. so i unhooked my cpu, apollo, mic cables, and mic. took them to a totally different spot in my home, new outlet, still got the clicks and pops. took them to another spot again and the clicks and pops was still there. so now im really confused. im like wtf, this makes no sense. so then i had my friend who allowed me to bring my equipment to his home come to me this time. he hooked his equipment up in my home this time and got those same clicks and pops. the only thing i didnt do yet is test a different interface and cpu in my home. i reset my cpu back to factory settings, and once i placed the software back on my cpu i was still getting the clicks and pops. somebody please help me, I've tried everything and this makes no sense to me. im using an apollo twin mk2, protools 10,12, imac 21.5 inch late 2011, osx 10.9.5

Some capitalization and paragraph breaks would make reading this a lot easier.

If Pro Tools is not involved you may get more help from UAD support.

What exactly do you mean by clicks and pops? In Pro Tools are these being created at playback or are they being recorded into the audio? (You see them on the waveform?). If so post a recording online somewhere like Soundcloud and post a link to that link here. It's a similar question for he console... the clicks could be on the input side or the output side (e.g. they even might be in you monitors... which BTW are what exactly? If needed test with headphones and all the monitor hardware disconnected.) but either way if you see effects in the wave form getting through to Pro Tools you pretty much know it's not an output side issue.

If you create an empty session and drag and drop some mp3 or similar commercial recorded music onto an audio track in that session do you hear clicks and pops when you play it back? (if not then you likely have an input side issue).

If you are hearing stuff through the console then I'd suspect it is electrical interference, but again that could be on input or output. A recording may help folks guess more just by hearing it. Possibly if the UAD Console is itself clocking off a digital input (I can't remember the console enough to know how it handles clocking) and there are problems with that clock source... I am not sure... but if you have an Optical input connected disconnect it.

my bad about how i wrote all of this, i been kind of sick lately so i just rushed this last night before i went to bed. yes its a input connection problem, its going through the recording input as i record. it doesn't do it unless i hit that little red button. far as the clicks and pops, i call it that because that's the closes thing i can describe it as. i have it on soundcloud now so you can listen to it and tell me what you think it sounds like

That is, great help, that sounds more like “static” or “hash” than what I would call clicks and pops. Often it has a RF (radio frequency) source... kinda like a version of the static noise you would get with an analog TV tuned to a channel with no signal.

It is going to take some experimenting. It may be you have a source of noise nearby and/or you have some wiring problem or component that is faulty or just prone to picking up noise.

What mic are you using? Any outboard preamp or booster? What gain are you running the Twin preamp at? Do the mic(s) otherwise appear to be OK?).

You can work through seeing if it’s the microphone itself or a cable you are using *in* with your environment that is the problem. Swap cables and mics if you have them. Make sure you are using balanced mic cables and the cables are correctly wired and there are no broken wires or shorts between pins (check with a continuity meter). See if touching or not touching the mic, or metallic cable connector parts or Twin housing makes the sound better or worse.

There may be a source of electrical noise nearby or maybe elsewhere in the house. The first suspect should be your computer. Turn it off and unplug it and all unneeded cables from your Twin, and then test the Twin in stand alone mode (see the hardware manual if that is new to you).

Unplug and turn off all the monitors and remove any unused cables from the Twin, and try recording your mic, then connect back up the monitors and listen to the recording to see if the monitors might be generating or helping the system pick up noise.

This is not the sound of “50 Hz hum” associated with ground loops but the signal may still be transmitted by power connections or faults there. Make sure the power socket being used is correctly grounded, try swapping the power brick with your friend’s unit. Try fully powering off all electronic equipment in your house connected to the AC power circuit. Other computers, TV, appliances, etc.

ok thanks for responding, even if i dont find the problem i just wanted to let you know how much i appreciate you trying to help me. i tried just about everything you mentioned besides unplugging everything in the house. you mentioned my mic pre, i run it through my avalon 737. i never mentioned my mic pre though because i unhooked my apollo, plus the cpu, and my mic and took it as far away from it as i could. i hooked it up on the other side of the house and tried using my apollo as a standalone, straight through the mic input. i even went and bought some brand new mic cables. im kinda thinking the same as you, it may be some electrical interference causing the problem. i just thought i was wrong. sowhat im about to do is unhook everything in the house and see how that works